


in the reptile house

by Waywarder



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Aziraphale is Brave, Crowley is a Zookeeper, First Kiss, Meet-Cute, snakes are friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23192488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywarder/pseuds/Waywarder
Summary: In which mild-mannered bookshop owner Aziraphale Fell faces one of his greatest fears.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 322
Kudos: 580
Collections: AJ’s personal faves, Good Omens Human AUs, Ixnael’s Recommendations, Ixnael’s SFW corner, Shinbi34's Recommendations, The Snake Pit





	1. Chapter One

To begin: Henry David Thoreau “went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”

Well, Aziraphale Fell did not care for the woods, thank you very much, but he did still wish to live deliberately and deep, which is perhaps how he found himself standing outside of the Reptile House of the London Zoo in the first place. 

It was really a quest of moral fortitude. _Thinking of it as a quest helped quite a bit. Like he was a hero in a story._ You see, Aziraphale Fell was tired of being accused of being soft, so he had come here today to face one of his greatest fears.

Oh, yes, he had passed Penguin Beach without so much as a backward glance, had entirely evaded the elephants, hadn’t spared even the merest of glances for the meerkats… No, Aziraphale Fell was here today for one purpose and one purpose alone.

He needed to look at a _snake._

Just the thought set shivers down his spine. Aziraphale Fell, bookshop owner, kind soul, champion of old poems and fresh pastries, had love in his heart for nearly all of God’s creatures, but he did not care one jot for snakes. He couldn’t eloquently tell you why, and Aziraphale Fell prided himself on being an eloquent being. 

Snakes just… Oh, what was that delightful American expression? Snakes gave him the heebie jeebies.

He was being ridiculous, he knew. Aziraphale Fell did not pride himself on being a ridiculous being, which, again, was what had brought him here in the first place. 

Sometimes one just needs to prove their own bravery to oneself, d’you know what I mean?

“All creatures great and small,” Aziraphale murmured to himself as he pushed open the door.

Oh, fuck.

Inside it was quite dim, and far too quiet. Eerily quiet. Well, he did come on a Tuesday afternoon, what was he to expect? Aziraphale took a deep breath, and stepped deeper into the house, keeping his gaze firmly ahead of him. 

There were acrylic windows as far as the eye could see, and Aziraphale didn’t dare come close enough to peek into any of them. 

Perhaps this had been a terrible idea. What did Thoreau know anyway?

“I am soft,” Aziraphale admitted to himself, rather miserably. 

He couldn’t do this. Not today, perhaps not ever. He fixed his eyes to the floor, and whirled around to go-

“Do you have any questions?”

The sudden noise and presence of another living being in that dark, quiet den of serpents caused Aziraphale to yelp out loud, bringing one hand up to his now desperately beating heart. Aziraphale’s yelp caused the new living being- tall and lanky, this one- to shout as well.

“Well, what are you shouting for?” Aziraphale asked in frustration, utterly embarassed to have been caught retreating.

“Me?” hissed the Tall One. “You’re the one that started it!”

“I’m terribly sorry to bother you,” Aziraphale huffed. “I was just leaving, so if you’ll excuse me-”

“You didn’t look at any of them.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Tall Living Being stepped forward, and Aziraphale could not help but get a better look at him. He was, Aziraphale’s stomach lurched to realize it, rather alarmingly handsome. His long auburn hair was pulled back away from his striking face. Aziraphale did think it rather odd that he was wearing sunglasses indoors, but who was he to judge? Aziraphale’s eyes darted over to his chest, over his nametag.

_Anthony._

“Said, ‘You didn’t look at any of them.’ ‘S rude,” Anthony raised an eyebrow over his dark sunglasses.

Well, excellent. Not only was he surrounded by serpents, but now he was being considered “rude,” Heaven forbid, by this tall, handsome zookeeper.

“I’m very sorry,” Aziraphale fumbled for his words, wishing heartily that he was having this interaction beside the penguin habitat or literally anywhere else on the planet. “I just… well, it’s just that… you see, dear fellow-”

“Are you afraid?”

Anthony the zookeeper’s question was gentler than Aziraphale expected. As if he was rather used to the answer. 

“Yes,” admitted Aziraphale, feeling even more disappointed in himself than usual in the face of this beautiful zookeeper.

“Why?”

Once again, Anthony’s voice was… well, soft. Aziraphale felt his cheeks growing rather flushed the longer he looked at Anthony. Was it usual that zookeepers looked so… _cool?_

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Aziraphale said, honestly.

Anthony folded his long arms across his chest. “Well, what do you know about snakes? Let’s start there.”

“Well, of course, they’re reptiles,” Aziraphale began. “Which makes them cold-blooded, and so I believe they lay eggs, and some of them are rather venomous, and some of them are rather… well, squeezy, and…”

Aziraphale trailed off, feeling stupider than ever. He didn’t know the first thing about snakes when it came down to it.

Anthony chuckled a little, and Aziraphale’s stomach lurched again at the sound. “It’s easy to be scared when you don’t know anything about something.”

Anthony extended his hand, and Aziraphale took it without hesitation, thrilling at the grip of the long, strong fingers beneath his own.

“I’m Anthony Crowley, and I’m a senior herpetologist here,” Anthony introduced himself. “And you are?”

“Aziraphale Fell. I run a bookshop,” Aziraphale fought the tremor in his voice. He was still surrounded by serpents, after all.

“No books about snakes?” 

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well, then, Aziraphale Fell,” Anthony released his hand, but wait, was Aziraphale imagining things or had he _squeezed_ it first? “I’m going to give you your first herpetology lesson. Are you ready?”

And he couldn’t explain why, not in six thousand years, but Anthony Crowley made Aziraphale Fell feel brave. He nodded. 

“Come and see Em,” Anthony gestured towards a window to their left.

Aziraphale sucked in a breath, and turned to the window. He flinched immediately at the sight of a great, green snake, perched very still up on a branch in the corner.

“Aziraphale Fell, this is Em,” Anthony walked right up to the window, crouching down to get a closer look. “She’s an Emerald Tree Boa. Her kind comes from the rainforests in South America. She’s non-venomous, so she’s what you’d call a squeezy one.”

Aziraphale took one step closer to the window. Em, without even so much as a warning, began to slither and move. Aziraphale couldn’t help the deep shudder that shook his body.

“Aw, you’re going to hurt Em’s feelings.”

“It’s not as if she can hear me,” Aziraphale snipped a little, feeling self-conscious. “ _Do_ snakes have ears?”

“They don’t have external ears like we do,” Anthony answered, turning his covered gaze back to Em. “But they get along alright just the same.”

The way that Anthony seemed so adoring of Em… Aziraphale couldn’t believe that he felt jealous of a bloody snake.

 _Get it together,_ he told himself, heart still beating rapidly out of fear and newfound admiration.

Anthony leaned against the wall, turning back to face Aziraphale. Aziraphale, who felt terribly foolish, still standing practically in the center of the aisle, not daring to come closer to Em.

“What do you like about them?” Aziraphale wondered out loud. 

“Ah, that’s part of lesson two,” Anthony pushed himself off of the wall. “You stay here, and I’ll be right back.”

And if Aziraphale paid especially close attention to the sway of Anthony Crowley’s hips as he wandered, ambled, sauntered deeper away into the Reptile House, and finally through a door marked “Staff Only,” well… We’re all mortal, aren’t we?

Aziraphale turned back to Em. He took yet another deep breath and willed himself to move a step closer. Em’s tongue flicked the air, and Aziraphale fought the urge to run in the other direction. He forced himself to focus instead on the color of Em’s scales. Challenged himself to consider her the way a poet might.

She really was rather lovely.

“Don’t turn around yet, Aziraphale.”

Aziraphale flinched again- how did he never hear Anthony coming?- but thrilled inwardly at the sound of his name on Anthony’s tongue. Wait. Why wasn’t he supposed to turn around? 

“Anthony, you didn’t,” Aziraphale breathed, ice water running through his veins.

“It’s alright. It’s just lesson two,” And already Aziraphale could recognize the grin in Anthony’s voice. “I’m saving the big guns for at least lesson four. Do you trust me that I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you?”

And damn his easily besotted heart, but Aziraphale did believe him. Aziraphale nodded, still facing away.

“Good. Now turn around.”

Aziraphale turned, and gasped. Looped around Anthony’s shoulders, like it wasn’t anything in the world, was a black and brown SNAKE. 

A SNAKE.

NOT BEHIND A WINDOW EVEN.

“Aziraphale,” Anthony reached around his neck to take hold of the SNAKE, and let it coil its way around his forearm. “This is Kaa.”

“Like in _The Jungle Book?_ ” Aziraphale’s voice was practically a squeak.

“Even poor snake keepers find time to read,” Anthony admitted. “But don’t worry. Our Kaa is a sweetheart. Unless you’re a mouse, you’ve nothing to worry about around her.”

 _I might be a mouse,_ thought Aziraphale.

“C’mon,” Anthony reached out his arm, slowly, carefully. “Give her a little stroke.”

Aziraphale Fell wished to live deliberately and deep, and Anthony Crowley was very kind and handsome, which is perhaps how Aziraphale found his fingers reaching out, almost of their own accord, and making contact with Kaa’s body. 

Aziraphale had, of course, never touched a snake before. Kaa was cooler to the touch than he expected. The texture of her scales was almost pebble-y. It was really quite a pleasant sensation. He slowly ran his fingers over and over down the center of Kaa’s body, being careful to avoid her head. 

“There you go,” Anthony murmured softly. “You’re doing beautifully.”

Without realizing it, Aziraphale had taken a step closer as he’d reached for Kaa, and goodness, how he found himself suddenly quite close to Anthony. 

“Why are you taking the time to help me?” Aziraphale asked with something like wonder in his voice.

And there was a touch of sadness in Anthony’s smile this time. “I know what it’s like to feel like folks are afraid of you for no reason. Don’t want any other creatures to feel the same.”

Aziraphale didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would possibly be afraid of kind, handsome, brave, smart Anthony Crowley.

“Thanks for taking a chance on Kaa, Aziraphale,” Anthony drew his arm back a little, bringing Kaa out of the range of Aziraphale’s touch. “Come visit us anytime.”

And Anthony looped Kaa back around his neck, and turned to wander, amble, saunter away, disappearing again behind the “Staff Only” door.

Aziraphale Fell did not entirely understand what had just happened to him. Only that he absolutely wanted it to happen again. 

Which is perhaps how he found himself purchasing a Membership to the London Zoo on his way out.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aziraphale returns to the London Zoo for some more learning and yearning.

To his credit, Aziraphale Fell waited at least a week before returning to the Reptile House of the London Zoo.

Oh, he did his best to focus on work: to painstakingly re-organize his shelves, to exude kindness and grace to his customers (though inwardly he longed for them all to leave him alone), to generally fiddle about and drink more tea than a human should probably be able to consume. 

At night, he dreamt of snakes.

Sometimes he dreamt of small, manageable, even beautiful snakes like Em and Kaa. Dream-Em and Dream-Kaa were considerate enough to keep their distance from Dream-Aziraphale, and he could simply sit and regard them and remember to breathe.

Sometimes he dreamt of great, huge, terrible serpents. He dreamt of obsidian-scaled, yellow-eyed _monsters_ that chased him, that always, always caught him, that began to slowly wrap around him, that stole the air from him, that made horrible eye contact with him just before…

Before he woke, clasping at his chest and sweating against his soft sheets.

Once (pitifully only once) he dreamt of Anthony. Anthony who neither chased him nor kept his distance. Handsome Anthony wandering through the shadows of the Reptile House. Kind Anthony who squeezed Aziraphale’s hand, (he had spent an awful lot of time dedicated to replaying that particular moment in his head, and he was positive that he had not imagined it, thank you very much) and challenged him to be brave. Who seemed to believe that Aziraphale was even capable of being brave.

Aziraphale had woken from this dream sweating as well.

It was a Monster Dream the night before his planned return to the Zoo, and Aziraphale woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed and breathing heavily. 

“Just a dream,” he reminded himself between gasps. “Don’t be so silly.”

And so Aziraphale Fell began to get ready for his return to the Reptile House. 

***

Aziraphale removed the fresh Membership card from his wallet, and showed it off to the kind person at the Zoo desk. Aziraphale had been a member of a lot of things throughout his lifetime; museums, operas, theatres, a very interesting-in-theory but disappointing-in-reality monthly pie subscription box…

But never the Zoo.

He’d never really stopped to consider how he even felt about the whole thing. Anthony had been right.

_And gorgeous._

_Stop it._

Aziraphale Fell really didn’t know the first thing about animals in general. He’d never taken care of a pet, had never spent a particular amount of time outdoors with wildlife, and, again, he’d never really had a good reason to frequent an establishment like the London Zoo.

As he had the week before, Aziraphale went directly to the Reptile House. This time, however, Aziraphale wasn’t moving nearly as quickly as he liked, despite the eager beating of his heart. No, this time, Aziraphale felt like he was practically going in slow motion. This time, you see, Aziraphale was wading through a veritable ocean of other humans.

Small humans at that.

“Field trips,” Aziraphale muttered under his breath, not unlike a curse.

Indeed. When Aziraphale finally did push through the doors back into the Reptile House, there was none of the calm, eerie quiet of his previous visit. Shrieks reverberated off the walls, and echoed down the corridors of the space. Children, filled to bursting with enthusiasm and freedom, bounced from window to window. Aziraphale noted that sometimes a child would even tap at the window, despite the many signs posted to the contrary.

For the first time in his life, Aziraphale Fell felt rather bad for all the snakes.

Aziraphale scanned the space over the sea of little heads. There certainly didn’t appear to be any tall, handsome, red-haired zookeepers lurking about. The loud noises of the children combined with the fear Aziraphale felt over possibly looking into any windows all made him rather nervous.

Still, he was here to be brave, whether he got to see Anthony or not. Baby steps still counted.

He found himself walking in the direction of Em’s window. She was up in her same corner as the week before, still and green and beautiful.

“Hello, Em,” Aziraphale greeted her, softly. “I hope all these noises aren’t bothering you too terribly.”

Em, of course, said nothing.

“Well, then,” Aziraphale went on, surprisingly not feeling as stupid as he would have expected. “If you see that tall friend of yours anywhere abouts today, please do send my regards, won’t you?”

And Aziraphale knew that, if Em could, she would.

He turned away from the window, and hopefully looked out over the crowd again.

Still no Anthony.

Aziraphale sighed, this time feeling the amount of stupid that he expected. 

Aziraphale stepped back out of the Reptile House, adjusting his eyes back to the sun and his guts back to this sudden feeling of horrid disappointment.

“Don’t be so ridiculous,” he admonished himself, perhaps more unkindly than necessary. “You don’t even know which days he works!”

And, suddenly, the entire situation seemed to come crashing down around him.

_What in the name of Heaven is your plan, Aziraphale Fell?_ came a snippy voice in his head to which he was awfully accustomed. _Buy a Zoo membership in order to stalk the pretty, kind snake charmer? He was being nice to you because that’s his job, you fool. He doesn’t care if he ever sees you again._

Aziraphale Fell felt quite miserable and, yes, foolish, and thought perhaps that it was time to go home.

A child ran past him, clutching some sort of biscuit in the shape of an animal.

Well, alright, no harm in stopping for a biscuit before staggering home in magnificent and crushing defeat.

Aziraphale turned to the right to begin his Biscuit Quest. As he began to journey, he noticed a gaggle of field trip children surrounding a fence. They were oddly silent for a gaggle of excitable field trip children, seemingly enraptured by whatever was in front of them. In fact, Aziraphale only heard one voice at all above the regular Zoo din…

“And these, my friends, are called Galapagos tortoises! They are the largest species of tortoise in the world, and they can live for over 150 years.”

To his credit, Aziraphale Fell did not completely trip over his own feet. It was just a little stumble. Biscuit forgotten, he moved in the direction of the voice.

Let me make something clear, though I suppose you’ve already figured this bit out: Aziraphale Fell didn’t really know that he personally cared terribly about animals, he knew for a fact that he certainly was not fond of loud, running field trip children, but he was still a kind, gentle person whose heart was very susceptible to kind, gentle things. 

So, to walk up on the sight of tall, beautiful Anthony Crowley teaching a flock of small children all about an old tortoise…

Well.

“How do they get to be so old?” asked one of the field trip children.

“Excellent question!” exclaimed Anthony. “To tell you the truth, friends, we don’t know for certain, but there are some interesting scientific theories. Who knows what I’m talking about when I say ‘metabolism?’”

Anthony scanned his audience, but no hands went up. So, he looked a little beyond, and…

Oh. Oh, damn.

Anthony was wearing his sunglasses again, but Aziraphale felt wildly, horribly _seen_ when the man turned in his direction and _grinned._

“What about you in the back?” Anthony called out.

Aziraphale turned to his left and right, just to make certain-

“Yes, you, friend in the smart bow tie!”

“Me?” Aziraphale squeaked just a little. “Yes, well, ‘metabolism,’ dear fellow… well, it’s sort of a long answer, but I believe, for our purposes, we might keep it as simple as the breakdown of food and its conversion into energy.”

“Excellent answer!” Anthony turned his attention back to the children. “My friends, can I get a wa-hoo for an excellent answer?”

“Wa-hoo!!”

Aziraphale blushed.

***

When the lesson ended, and the field trip children began to wander away, Anthony walked over to Aziraphale. 

“Well, well, well. Em and Kaa must have left quite the impression on you.”

Aziraphale’s insides were screaming.

“I bought a Membership,” Aziraphale blurted out. _Why? Why would you tell him that?!_

Anthony’s eyebrows went up over his sunglasses, and the confidence he so effortlessly exuded seemed to falter for just a second.

“We,” Anthony took his time. “I thank you for your support of the animals, Aziraphale.”

“You’re so good with them,” Aziraphale gestured towards the retreating field trip children. “The animals and the children, I mean.”

Anthony leaned forward, almost conspiratorily, and Aziraphale nearly swooned. “Oh, they’re awful little buggers, aren’t they? Did you see them in the House, tapping on all the windows?”

Aziraphale’s jaw dropped. “But you! You’re so nice to them!”

“I’m not nice,” Anthony grimaced. “But I want them to learn something while they’re here, so I try my best.”

Anthony Crowley made Aziraphale Fell feel brave, so he pressed forward: “I don’t know, Anthony. I think you’re quite nice.”

“Crowley.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Anthony gestured at his nametag. “They wouldn’t let me put my last name on the tag, but everyone calls me Crowley.”

_Anthony Crowley._

“Well, then,” Aziraphale was still momentarily possessed by his fit of bravery. “I think you’re very nice, Crowley.”

Crowley grimaced again, but there was something like a grin beneath it. 

“Well, c’mon then,” Crowley said, suddenly. “You didn’t come here just to chat with me.”

Aziraphale hoped that the laugh that escaped him at that wasn’t too terribly strangled.

“Time for another lesson!”

Crowley turned back in the direction of the tortoises, and Aziraphale followed, secure in the hope that no one would be able to actually hear how loudly his heart was beating. 

Once they were at the fence, Crowley slung his long legs over it with ease. He turned back to Aziraphale and offered his hand.

“Over you go, Aziraphale.”

My friends, it was as awkward as you’re probably imagining. Aziraphale did not make a habit of casually slinging his trouser-clad legs over fences, no matter the size. And while Crowley professed not to be a nice zookeeper, let it be known that he gripped Aziraphale’s hand the entire time, and didn’t laugh out loud at him once.

“If anyone asks,” Crowley said. “You paid for a Private Tour, and that’s how you got back here, alright?”

Aziraphale nodded, filing away the option of actually purchasing a Private Tour for later.

“Think of this as lesson 0.5, Aziraphale. We’re going backwards to go forwards, and all that.”

Crowley went over to a bin inside the enclosure, and pulled out a chunk of what looked like sweet potato. He next retrieved what Aziraphale could best describe later as some sort of tongs made from bamboo. He wasn’t terribly interested. He was instead quite focused on the thrill that came from witnessing Anthony Crowley in his natural habitat; he moved so quickly, and assuredly. 

“Right, then,” Crowley fixed the bit of sweet potato to the end of the tongs. “Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” Aziraphale frowned. 

“Ready to give Polly a snack.”

Aziraphale had completely forgotten that they were standing in a yard among three Galapagos tortoises.

“Oh, I don’t think I could,” Aziraphale breathed, feeling embarassed again. “What if… I mean, it sounds like a terribly important job, Crowley. What if I do it wrong?”

“I have the utmost confidence in you,” Crowley smiled as he passed Aziraphale the tongs. 

Their fingers brushed just a litle in the exchange of the tongs, because of course they did.

“Look, Polly knows what time it is,” Crowley said, affectionately. And, indeed, one of the tortoises had shuffled up in their direction. Crowley knelt down immediately, and placed his hand on Polly’s vast shell.

“What makes Polly a tortoise instead of a turtle?” Aziraphale wanted to know.

“Excellent question,” Crowley grinned, stroking Polly as he spoke. “There are a lot of reasons, but to start: look at Polly’s feet.”

Aziraphale did.

“See how her feet are sort of trunk-y, like an elephant’s?”

“I do.”

“Turtles, generally, have little webbed feet, because they’re swimmers. Polly here doesn’t swim.”

“That’s alright, Polly,” Aziraphale said to the great creature. “I don’t swim either.”

“Now, kneel down like me,” Crowley instructed. 

Aziraphale went to his knees carefully, not even bothered by the dirt touching his trousers. 

“And hold the sweet potato out in front of Polly, nice and easy.”

Aziraphale did so. Slowly, but surprisingly powerfully, Polly took hold of the sweet potato in her jaws, and clamped down. 

“Goodness!” Aziraphale exclaimed. “She’s strong for an old girl.”

“Polly here was hatched during World War I.” Maybe Crowley wasn’t “nice,” sure, whatever, but his voice dripped with fondness and regard for the tortoise next to him.

“That’s incredible,” and Aziraphale meant it. He had always thought of himself as clever. Why didn’t he know anything about Galapagos tortoises?

“Do you want to pet her?” Crowley asked.

Aziraphale did.

So, as Polly continued to crunch her sweet potato, Aziraphale brought his hand to her shell, and began to pet. Polly’s shell was dusty and bumpy and strong and beautiful.

“She can feel it, you know,” Crowley said softly, as they stroked her together. 

Aziraphale’s eyes widened at that. “Can she?”

“Nerve endings in their shells. Here, take your hand away for a bit.”

Aziraphale and Crowley removed their hands from Polly’s shell, and Aziraphale gasped when the tortoise made a rather loud grunting sound. Crowley laughed.

“See? Doesn’t want us to stop, does she?”

So, purely out of respect and deference for Polly the tortoise, Aziraphale returned his hand and continued to pet. And if that meant that he found himself caught up in a conversation with Anthony Crowley for an amount of time that he would never consider lost, well… So be it.

“Alright, old girl,” Crowley gave Polly a final pat, and then came back up to his feet. He offered his hand once more to Aziraphale.

“Thank you, my dear,” Aziraphale whispered to Polly before taking Crowley’s hand.

“So, a new Member, then?” Crowley began to walk back towards the edge of the fence. “I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of you from now on, yeah?”

“Yes,” Aziraphale answered, already making a bargain with himself that he wasn’t allowed to come back as soon as tomorrow.

“Well,” Crowley hesitated a moment, and then:

“Well, I’m here Tuesdays through Saturdays. So, you know, whenever you’d like your next Reptile Lesson.”

They had reached the fence. And then kind, handsome Crowley removed a key from his pocket, and unlatched a little gate on the fence. He held it open for Aziraphale.

Aziraphale who was trying and perhaps failing not to gape.

Crowley locked the gate behind them. He turned back to Aziraphale and smiled. 

“Thanks for helping me take care of Polly, Aziraphale. I’ll see you next time.”

And Crowley wandered, ambled, sauntered away. 

And Aziraphale, not quite ready to go home, turned back to his right. And he eventually found the little kiosk. And, smiling like an idiot, he fished his wallet out of his pocket.

And he bought himself a little gingerbread biscuit shaped like a tortoise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friends, it is a scary time out there, so the fact that any of you asked for more installments in this cute little reptile story has made my heart so very happy. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Also: Polly the tortoise is real, and she is very perfect.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see what's going on behind that "Staff Only" door, and Aziraphale makes another new friend.

To his credit, Anthony Crowley waited until he had wandered, ambled, sauntered back to the comfort of the Reptile House. He even waited until he had wandered, ambled, sauntered through the door marked “Staff Only.” He waited until he was absolutely certain that he was safely behind a door through which odd, beautiful Aziraphale Fell could not follow him, and then, and only then:

“ShitshitshitshitshitSHIT.”

Crowley buried his face in his hands, and groaned. 

He was fucked.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Crowley growled at himself. “What were you doing _telling him your schedule?!_ ”

Crowley thought back to the first time he’d seen Aziraphale in the Reptile House. Wearing all those light colors, standing there in the dark Reptile House… he’d practically glowed. 

See, here’s the thing:

A LOT of guests who were afraid of snakes came and went through Crowley’s Reptile House each and every day. Young and old, big and small, it barely mattered. Everyone was afraid of something, and, for a number of the population (a number that made Crowley sad), that something was a snake. 

Crowley had learned not to push, had learned not to take it personally. When guests called the snakes “evil” or “disgusting,” he just let the comments roll off of his back like…

Well, you know like what.

But there was something about Aziraphale the bookshop owner. Even through his nerves, Crowley had spotted a determination. Aziraphale wanted to learn, Aziraphale wanted to be brave.

And he didn’t really want to get into why, thank you very much, but Crowley found himself desparately wanting to help him. 

_“What do you like about them?”_

Crowley continued to think about Aziraphale as he made his afternoon rounds, checking in on all his scaly friends. He’d been thinking long and hard about the right answer to Aziraphale’s question from their first meeting. He didn’t want to answer Aziraphale until he had the best answer.

What _did_ he like about snakes?

Crowley made it to Kaa’s habitat, and a smile crept back over his face as he remembered the awe on Aziraphale’s (okay, FINE, dammit) _handsome face_ as he’d touched her for the first time. Crowley leaned down into the habitat, and gently scooped Kaa up again. He knew she wouldn’t mind. She was a cuddly sort, Kaa was.

Crowley cradled Kaa up against his chest, and felt the flicker of her tongue against his arm.

“There’s nothing not to like about you, isn’t there, darling?”

Again, Crowley’s mind wandered to that first encounter with Aziraphale. _“Come visit us anytime,”_ Crowley had said, thinking, a touch sadly, that was it. Handsome, nervous bookshop owners didn’t just keep coming back to the Zoo over and over again, after all.

But Aziraphale had been there today. Looking adorably caught-off-guard when Crowley had spotted him during his tortoise lecture. Wearing a bloody bowtie to the Zoo.

Crowley considered his own appearance. Not for the first time, he inwardly cursed his stupid Zoo uniform. An embroidered green polo shirt, and khaki shorts. Hardly very appealing to a fancy, buttoned-up bookseller.

But why had Aziraphale come back, then? Hell, he’d said he’d bought a bloody Membership! Something frightfully stupid and hopeful stirred in Crowley’s chest. 

“Well, who could stay away from you?” Crowley wondered out loud to Kaa as she began to slide over his shoulders, making herself comfortable. 

Something frightfully stupid and hopeful uncoiled itself in Crowley’s chest, and flicked its tongue at the air.

The next time- “ _If_ there’s a next time” Crowley said firmly to Kaa as though she was the one coming up with plans- the next time that Aziraphale visited the Reptile House, Crowley would have something really good for him.

Kaa’s face slid back into Crowley’s sightline. He eyed her from behind his glasses, and sighed out loud.

“I might be done for, Kaa.”

***

Anthony Crowley worked at the London Zoo Tuesdays through Saturdays, so, model of restraint that he was, Aziraphale Fell returned to the Zoo on the following Wednesday.

His heart felt light and excited. What creature would he get to meet today? What would he get to learn? 

What could he do to make Crowley proud of him?

He had thought a great deal about it over the past week, and decided that this… well, whatever you wish to call it… this _crush_ he had on Anthony Crowley. It was fine! It was harmless! These visits to the Zoo could only be considered professional on Crowley’s part, after all. He was just doing his job by being kind to Aziraphale and teaching him about reptiles. Nothing was going to _happen,_ so Aziraphale was completely safe.

Safe to learn about tortoises and gaze wistfully after that tall, gorgeous zookeeper in peace. 

Aziraphale strode through the doors of the Reptile House with more confidence than he’d had yet. Yes, sure, he still only dared to peek in on Em and Kaa. He knew, of course, that should his education continue, he would eventually have to look into the, well, _larger_ windows. 

But he would do that with Crowley by his side. 

Crowley who made him want to be brave.

“Aziraphale!”

Aziraphale turned away from Em, a smile breaking out over his face to see Anthony Crowley walking towards him. His breath hitched a little as Crowley came closer and Aziraphale could see more clearly that, once again, there was a living, breathing SNAKE draped over Crowley’s shoulders.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale nodded his head, politely, hating the fact that his guts still lurched over the prospect of being in the presence of a SNAKE. “And who is this?”

“Aziraphale, meet Pop,” Crowley’s fingers trailed idly against the snake’s brilliant orange skin, and Aziraphale tried not to focus too intently on those fingers.

“Well, hello, Pop.”

“Pop’s a corn snake, native to North America.”

“ _Pop the corn snake?_ My dear fellow, are you the one who names them?”

Crowley grinned. “Trade secret, I’m afraid. You’d never be able to set foot in here again.”

And Aziraphale laughed at that. And he could barely believe it. There he was, standing not even six feet away from a living, breathing… _snake_ … and laughing.

“Corn snakes are another friendly sort,” Crowley continued. “They’re just little mice eaters, and they’re actually quite popular as pets.”

“I believe it,” Aziraphale tried to shift his concentration from Crowley’s hands to Pop’s beautiful scales. “You’re a very handsome fellow, Pop.” 

“He is, at that,” Crowley removed Pop from his shoulders, and, as he had two weeks ago with Kaa, held the snake out to Aziraphale.

“Try holding him?”

Aziraphale’s heart started beating something horrible. Touching Kaa had been one thing, but _holding_ a snake? 

He must have been silent for too long, because Crowley went on:

“What’s the worst thing Pop could do to you, Aziraphale?”

And Crowley’s voice was kind, but Aziraphale felt more foolish than ever before. What did he think, that sweet, little Pop was going to unhinge his jaw and swallow him whole?

… Alright, maybe he did think that.

“I don’t know,” Aziraphale said, thickly.

“Here,” Crowley said, and it was awfully dark in the Reptile House, yes, but Aziraphale wondered for just a moment if he didn’t detect something like a blush creeping over Crowley’s cheeks.

Crowley held out his Pop-filled hands a bit farther in Aziraphale’s direction.

“Now, put your hands under mine. We can hold Pop together, and, if you’re ever ready, I’ll let go, alright?”

Aziraphale nodded, and took a step closer. He lifted his hands up to meet Crowley’s, mentally berating himself for the way they trembled as he did so. Crowley rested the backs of his hands in Aziraphale’s palms, and Aziraphale couldn’t help but marvel at the feel of them. He’d had the privelege of touching Crowley’s hand before, when he’d shook it, when he’d helped him over the tortoise fence. But those had all been such fleeting moments. This-

“Reach out with your thumb to pet Pop,” instructed Crowley, gently.

Aziraphale swallowed, and did so. 

And they stood there for a while, in the quiet darkness of the Reptile House on a Wednesday afternoon, the Zookeeper and the Bookseller, holding on to a snake together, and tracing his scales softly. 

“Ready to be brave, Aziraphale?”

Aziraphale was.

Crowley slowly slid his hands away from Aziraphale’s, carefully transferring Pop’s weight over to him entirely.

“Breathe, Aziraphale.”

Because, indeed, he had forgotten.

Pop the corn snake began to loop himself slowly over Aziraphale’s forearm. Aziraphale felt the snakes’ muscles against his own. It was really quite remarkable.

Terrifying, but remarkable.

“I’m holding a snake,” Aziraphale murmured mostly to himself, hardly daring to believe it.

“Yes, you are,” Crowley circled around to Aziraphale’s side, keeping an eye out for him or for Pop or for both, Aziraphale wasn’t entirely certain. “Conquered your fears.”

Aziraphale laughed softly, careful not to disturb Pop. “Oh, I’d hardly say that.”

Crowley crooked his head in the direction of the biggest window in the Reptile House, an eyebrow lifting above his glasses.

Aziraphale instinctively looked down at the floor instead of in the direction of the habitat. 

“I… I don’t think I’m ready.”

“That’s alright. I’m still proud of you.”

“I suppose you say that to all the frightened schoolchildren?”

Crowley chuckled at that. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It’s big stuff to go out and face your fears no matter how old you are.”

“Did you always take care of reptiles?” Aziraphale needed to shift the topic of conversation before he did something really dreadful, like start crying in the middle of the Reptile House.

“They’ve always been my favorite,” Crowley reached out to pet Pop. “But I started out as an aquarist, actually. Took care of fish, and worked my way up.”

“You know, I don’t know anything about fish either, I’m horrified to admit,” And Aziraphale truly was. How had he gotten away with thinking he was clever for so many years? “Pity there’s no aquarium here. You could give me Fish Lessons as well.”

“You know, there’s a little aquarium at the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo,” Crowley said. “You get in there as well with your Membership.”

“Well, yes, my dear,” Aziraphale dared to look away from Pop and smile at Crowley. “But there’s no You there to teach me.”

(Crowley, it should be noted, was working on being brave as well.)

“Well, then, I don’t know,” Crowley’s words faltered a bit, but finally: “Maybe we should go together.”

“Go… together?” 

_What was happening?_

“Yeah,” Crowley smiled, shrugging a little bit as though to prove how casually he meant the whole endeavor. “Meet up here, and I could drive us over. Teach you all about the fish. If you like.”

Aziraphale passed Pop back over to Crowley, noting with terror the way his heart ached when their fingers brushed. 

“I think I’d like that very much, Crowley.”

“Well, then,” Crowley kept his gaze fixed on Pop as he coiled around Crowley’s wrist. “It’s a date.”

And (because, if you must know, he was barely holding it together) Crowley turned a bit too quickly to wander, amble, saunter away. In fact, he was just about at the safety of his dear “Staff Only” door when the sound of rather smart shoes clicking rapidly against the tile floor stopped him.

He turned, and there was Aziraphale Fell, blue-gray eyes focused and determined, hands clenched into fists at this side, the very portrait of Bravery.

“It _is_ a date,” Aziraphale confirmed before quickly leaning forward to kiss Crowley on the cheek. 

To his credit, Anthony Crowley waited until he saw the doors to the Reptile House swing shut behind Aziraphale Fell before he put a hand up to his cheek and blushed madly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friends, I am having a really rough time, and the opportunity to take heart-breaks to sit down and research animals and write about these two idiots being gone for each other... it really means the world to me. Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm wiserandwaywarder over at Tumblr, if you'd like to shout about reptiles and/or Good Omens together.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our boys take a field trip to the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, and there's a bit more to do about bravery.

It was a 47 minute drive from the ZSL London Zoo to the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Aziraphale Fell knew this fact very well, because he had looked it up at least twice a day every day since he and Anthony Crowley had set their…

Date.

Aziraphale Fell, despite his moment of mad kiss-on-the-cheek courage in the Reptile House, was panicking.

He had never spent 47 minutes in Crowley’s presence. Goodness, he’d probably never spent 20 minutes in Crowley’s presence without some sort of reptile between them. 

Aziraphale, like so many of us, just didn’t see what Crowley could possibly see in him. Crowley was brilliant and kind and gorgeous, and, when Aziraphale looked into a mirror, he saw a rather boring, fussy, soft bookseller who was awkward and afraid of snakes. 

***

It was a 47 minute drive from the ZSL London Zoo to the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Anthony Crowley knew this fact very well, because, well, he worked for the zoo, and he had made that particular drive many times before. 

Crowley still didn’t know what had possessed him to ask Aziraphale out, but the point is that he had said “yes,” and now this was fucking happening. Crowley was terrified. What did he have to offer Aziraphale without an exciting animal friend to pet or hold? 

Crowley, like so many of us, just didn’t see what Aziraphale could possibly see in him. Aziraphale was determined and unique and beautiful, and, when Crowley looked into a mirror, he saw a scrawny weirdo who was more comfortable with snakes and lizards than he was with people.

***

(I don’t know what you see in your own mirror, friend, but I promise you that we all think you’re just smashing. Sorry to divert us; it just felt important to mention.)

***

After a 47 minute drive, Aziraphale and Crowley arrived at the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

(We’re getting there, friends, I promise. I’m a little impatient too. Please just know these bits first: The weather was perfect, Aziraphale was especially delighted to see the giraffes, Crowley did buy them ice cream at one point, because he was more than a little smitten after that giraffe business, and they were both nervously saving the aquarium for last.)

Compared to the heat of the outdoors, the aquarium was nice and quiet and cool. They walked together through the aquarium, and Crowley stopped at each exhibit to tell Aziraphale everything he knew about it, and Aziraphale drank the knowledge and the sound of Crowley’s voice down like the nicest wine he’d ever had. Sometimes Aziraphale asked questions, and oftentimes Crowley knew the answer, but sometimes Crowley didn’t, and then he was pulling out his phone, furiously hunting down an answer, in no way prepared to let Aziraphale down.

And Aziraphale marveled at Crowley, so handsome in his all-black, and so generous and eager with his information, and so _kind,_ and-

Aziraphale caught himself, and sucked in a breath.

(Oh, right, did I mention that Crowley wasn’t wearing his zoo uniform today? Because Aziraphale had nearly fainted.)

Crowley halted in the middle of a rant about the importance of mangroves. “Aziraphale, what’s the matter?”

“When we first met,” Aziraphale began, and yes, he knew it was an awkward transition, but is there really ever a good one for times like these? “You said that you knew what it was like for people to be afraid of you. What do you mean? Because my dear fellow, I just can’t possibly imagine it.”

Crowley’s excited mangrove-explaining-smile faded, and he dropped his gaze to the floor. 

“I’m so sorry, Crowley,” And Aziraphale was. “If you’re not ready to tell me- goodness what am I saying? You don’t ever have to be ready to tell _me._ I know you barely know me at all, and here I am asking absurd questions, and-”

Crowley reached a hand out to clasp Aziraphale’s shoulder gently. 

“Aziraphale, it’s alright. I like you too.”

And Aziraphale was grateful for the dim, blue-ish lighting of the aquarium, because he began to blush rather furiously.

“Liked you the first time you came into the Reptile House. Standing there all bright and glowy like you do. Thought you looked a bit like an angel,” Crowley kept his eyes downcast for this, but seemed to think better of it:

“No,” Crowley looked up, suddenly, almost fiercely. “No, I’m doing this proper.”

“Crowley,” Aziraphale hated himself for the wobble in his voice. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“Aziraphale Fell, you came into the Reptile House to be brave, and it’s time for me to do the same.”

Crowley brought a hand up to his face, and removed his glasses, swift as anything.

Aziraphale, to his credit, suspected that gasping would not particularly serve him here, so he fought the urge. But oh, the urge was so strong. Crowley, you see, was… Crowley’s _eyes_ were…

He was so very beautiful.

Crowley’s eyes shone brilliant and golden in the light of the aquarium. They weren’t like any set of eyes that Aziraphale had ever seen before. 

“Is this why people have been afraid of you?” Aziraphale breathed. 

“Really just back in school,” Crowley admitted, running a hand nervously through his hair, sunglasses twitching in his other hand. “Kids said I looked like a snake, said I was a monster, called me… They called me ‘Crawly.’ Real clever, right?”

“My dear,” Aziraphale’s heart ached for the small, red-headed, yellow-eyed child he could see so clearly now in his mind’s eye. “I’m so very sorry.”

“And they wanted a monster, so I gave them a monster,” Crowley continued, sadly. “Started lashing out, picking fights. Got in loads of trouble. Eventually, I just stopped trying with humans. Felt better with the snakes. Simpler that way. Give ‘em some mice, and they like you alright.”

“Crowley,” This time Aziraphale reached his own hand forward, and he took one of Crowley’s in his, squeezing it gently just the way he was sure Crowley had squeezed his at their first meeting. “I like you much more than alright.”

Crowley looked down at their joined hands. “I know you do, Aziraphale. I’m not sure I deserve it yet.”

“Oh, but you do!” Aziraphale cried out, and yes, it was probably too loud for the calm, peaceful aquarium setting, but sometimes good manners just do not serve us, my friends. “Anthony Crowley, you are smart and kind and handsome and I’d like to spend many more Saturdays listening to you talk about freshwater fish or about anything, really. My point is that I’d like to spend many more Saturdays in your company.”

We always know when we’re about to be kissed except for when we’re wrong. Aziraphale was awfully proud of his declaration, outburst though it was, and Crowley had said that he _liked_ him, and, I mean, for goodness’ sake, they were HOLDING HANDS, and Crowley was so beautiful in the light of the aquarium, and it was the perfect prelude to a kiss, but:

“Would you like to see the Butterfly House?” Crowley asked a little too quickly, threading his fingers through Aziraphale’s. 

And Aziraphale did.

So, they pressed on through the aquarium until they were crossing the threshold over into the Butterfly House. Crowley gave a rather knowing nod to the zoo employee sitting at the entrance to the Butterfly House, but Aziraphale didn’t pay it much mind. He was entirely too occupied with the fact that he was holding Crowley’s hand properly, and there wasn’t even a snake of any kind involved.

But then he took a look around, and:

“ _Crowley,_ ” Aziraphale’s voice was full of awe. “It’s breathtaking.”

And it really was, greenery and flowers and, naturally, butterflies as far as the eye could see. Crowley unlaced his fingers from Aziraphale’s, and said:

“Go on, then. Reach your arm out, and stay still.”

And sure enough, after a moment, a butterfly landed on Aziraphale’s outstretched arm, and he laughed at the sensation as well as from the pure joy he was currently experiencing. 

“It tickles a little,” he confessed as Crowley smiled at him.

“That’s a great orange-tip,” Crowley explained, leaning forward to examine the butterfly’s beautiful white wings. True to its name, the tips of the butterfly’s wings were a glorious shade of orange, striped with bits of black.

Aziraphale looked around the quiet Butterfly House in wonder, careful not to disrupt the butterfly on his arm. “I’m rather astonished we’re the only ones in here, you know. On a beautiful day like today?”

(This is a story about being brave.)

Crowley crossed his arms across his chest, guarding himself as he confessed: “Yeah, I might have tipped someone I know who still works here.”

“Tipped them? What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, I… might have… well, alright, so, I paid off an old co-worker to put up an Under Renovation sign on the Butterfly House today. Sorry.”

“My dear fellow,” gasped Aziraphale. “But that’s against the rules, isn’t it?”

And yes, of course it was, but that didn’t mean that Aziraphale’s heart wasn’t about to jump out of his throat. He turned his face to really focus on Crowley again. Crowley had called him an “angel,” but Aziraphale was afraid that the entirety of his vast book-consumption hadn’t supplied him yet with a word fit for whatever Crowley was. Standing there amid the flowers and butterflies, auburn-haired and sunshine-eyed. 

“Wanted you to get to see them when it was quiet,” Crowley murmured. This was too much. This was admitting far too much, Crowley was certain of it. “Wanted you to have them all to yourself.”

“But what if you get in trouble?” Aziraphale was frowning now, and Crowley hated that. 

“Well,” Crowley thought about it for a moment. “Well, then it would have been worth it, I think.”

And Aziraphale was still frowning, but something of that determination and courage that Crowley adored so much came over his face. He looked as if he was deciding something very important. A second that felt like a millenia came and went, and then Aziraphale stepped in closer to Crowley, and, as gently as he possibly could, went up on his toes and raised his butterfly-residing arm up over Crowley’s head.

“Aziraphale, what are you doing?” Crowley asked, voice catching a little over his new proximity to Aziraphale. 

“We’re protecting you,” Aziraphale said, softly. “From trouble, I mean.”

_I hope maybe we’ll always protect you._

“Oh,” Crowley said, just a little stupidly.

“Crowley, I-”

And Aziraphale might have had a hundred different things to say next to Crowley, but they were all going to have to wait, because he suddenly found his face clasped between Crowley’s beautiful hands, and he found himself pulled easily against Crowley, and, finally finally finally, he found himself thoroughly and wonderfully kissed. 

(The great orange-tip took their cue, and fluttered away gracefully.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Again, I know these are rough times for so many of us, and I promise to keep this story cute and sweet and filled with animals. 
> 
> I am very grateful to you. Your comments make my day.
> 
> I'm wiserandwaywarder over at Tumblr! Please never hesitate to say "hello!"
> 
> (Also: I know I sort of deprived us of a good road trip scene here, but I was so damn eager to get to the aquarium!!)


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is some more kissing, and, finally, a conversation.

Let’s pick back up where we left off, shall we?

They were standing on a nice afternoon in the Butterfly House of the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Aziraphale Fell had, as you’ll recall, suddenly found himself pulled against Anthony Crowley’s body, and kissed. And, together, each too afraid to move, each decidedly unwilling to pull away, they simply held that first kiss for a long, long time. Crowley’s hands remained on either side of Aziraphale’s face, and Aziraphale’s arms had made their way to be draped around Crowley’s neck.

Finally, it was Aziraphale who ever-so-slightly pulled his mouth back in order to catch his breath. (They were mammals, after all.) His eyes darted up to meet Crowley’s golden gaze. 

“Is this okay?” Crowley murmured against Aziraphale’s lips.

“Oh, my dear,” Aziraphale whispered back. “So much more than.”

And, at that, Crowley did not kiss him again, not just yet. Crowley instead moved his hands from Aziraphale’s face to around his waist, and he pulled Aziraphale tightly against him. Aziraphale tightened his grip around Crowley’s neck, and pressed his face into Crowley’s shoulder. 

Because they were terrifying, these feelings that each of them was beginning to acknowledge out in the open. These were the sorts of feelings that leave one free and exposed for the breaking and for the bruising. So, there would be time for more kissing (soon, so soon, I promise), but for now it was more than enough to be held tightly on a nice afternoon in the Butterfly House of the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. 

“I don’t know where you came from, angel,” Crowley shut his eyes tightly as he held Aziraphale, as if a lack of vision didn’t make it real, didn’t make it a fact that he’d finally gone and called Aziraphale “angel” like he’d wanted to since he’d first seen him. “But I’m glad you showed up.”

Aziraphale laughed a little at that, soft and wobbly, and Crowley squeezed him tighter. “I’m not really much of anyone really.” 

(Because we feel like we have to say things like that, don’t we? We feel like we have to apologize even when someone awfully marvelous is saying kind words at us. Let that handsome zookeeper adore you, friend. You’re wonderful, I promise.)

And Crowley did pull away a little at that, finding Aziraphale’s eyes with his own again. “I’m very sorry, sir, but I don’t take kindly to anyone saying shit like that about my friend, Aziraphale. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave the Butterfly House.”

“Well, allow me to be the sorry one, sir, but it doesn’t much look like you work here. In that outfit?”

“I’m… undercover.”

Aziraphale laughed louder at that. “Oh, I’m certain you are. Anthony Crowley, Vigilante-Protector of All Creatures Great and Small.”

And Crowley loosened his grip on Aziraphale’s waist, and lightly ran the backs of his knuckles up and down Aziraphale’s sides. “I thought you were the one protecting me.”

“I confess,” Aziraphale breathed, shivering a little at the touch. “That I don’t much know how. But yes, Crowley. Dear Crowley. I think I might do anything for you.”

“Can I kiss you again?” 

“Yes, please.”

And Crowley did.

Crowley kissed Aziraphale just the way he ought to be kissed in the quiet warmth of the Butterfly House, surrounded by green and blooms and, yes, butterflies. Crowley kissed Aziraphale slowly and sweetly, pouring into the kiss all the things that he wasn’t sure he ought to go saying just yet. Pouring into the kiss thoughts of _I know we really only just met, but I feel like I’ve known you for so much longer. Yes, I don’t know yet what you like for breakfast or what you’re like when things go wrong, but I want so very much to find out. You kind, strange, beautiful creature. Let me become an expert on you. Let me make you breakfast._

And Aziraphale, for his part, kissed back nice and sweet and slow until he felt he might burst with his longing. He stroked the back of Crowley’s neck, attempting to trace into his skin all the things he dare not say. Tracing into Crowley’s skin thoughts of _You have to understand that I was on a quest for Courage, and what I found was you. And you make me feel like I can be brave and do anything, and so now I want to. Do anything, I mean. With you. Of course. Obviously. Would that be alright, my dear? Please tell me it’s alright._

It had been a long time since Aziraphale had been kissed at all, and longer still since he had been kissed to such perfection, so I hope you shall all of you forgive him for the soft moan that escaped his lips as Crowley kissed him. Crowley, to his credit, grinned against Aziraphale’s mouth, feeling awfully pleased with himself, and used the opportunity to gently slide his tongue into Aziraphale’s mouth. 

And, you see, Aziraphale had allowed himself to acknowledge his “harmless crush” on devastatingly beautiful and exceedingly kind Anthony Crowley, but, oh, he had not dared to _want_ him. Aziraphale had a tendency toward the obsessive. He craved, he fixated. 

But now Crowley’s tongue was in his mouth, and Aziraphale felt all his resolve crumbling away. He was going to study Anthony Crowley like the rarest, most precious manuscript. Was going to stroke his fingers against every page of him with utmost reverence, and, when he was finished, he was going to compose private lectures on the subject of his beauty.

Aziraphale brought his hands around from Crowley’s neck, and instead grabbed a hold of his shirt collars, and pulled him closer still. Crowley pulled back, breathing heavily.

“Still okay?”

“I promise to tell you if it isn’t,” Aziraphale brought a hand up to Crowley’s cheek.

Crowley turned his face into Aziraphale’s hand to kiss his palm.

“Don’t wanna go too fast,” Crowley confessed. “I don’t want to mess this up.”

“What is this?” Aziraphale wondered out loud, terrified of the answer.

“This,” Crowley considered the question, carefully. Aziraphale had asked him many questions in their short time together (I mean, to be fair, about reptiles, mostly), and he desperately needed to get this one right. “ _This._ I hope this is me kissing you some more here in this Butterfly House, and next I think this is me giving you a lift home, and kissing you again. After that, I think this is the start of me asking you to go more places on more days.”

“I’ll do some of the asking as well, you know,” Aziraphale smiled.

“Good,” Crowley grinned right back. “Because I know lots about snakes, but rather fuck all about where besides the zoo to take handsome, interesting booksellers.”

“Understood,” Aziraphale wound his arms around Crowley’s neck again, enjoying the press of their bodies against one another. “I look forward to finally being of some instruction in this relationship.”

“Good thing I’m a fast learner.”

And Aziraphale didn’t have anything particularly eloquent to say to that, so he resumed his grip on Crowley’s collars, and pulled him back down into another kiss.

The ZSL Whipsnade Zoo closed promptly at 5 o’clock, and so Aziraphale and Crowley kissed until 5:02, at which time they were shooed away by a poor, beleaguered zoo employee who was more than used to interrupting their fair share of romantic interludes in the Butterfly House. 

***

It was a 56 minute drive from the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo to Aziraphale’s bookshop in Soho, and, true, neither Aziraphale Fell nor Anthony Crowley knew that fact, but it didn’t really matter, because no amount of time would have felt like enough.

When they pulled up to the curb in front of the shop, Crowley was quick to hop out first, and to make it around to Aziraphale’s door to hold it open for him. He was similarly quick to offer his hand to Aziraphale, unwilling to spend the remainder of his time in his company without touching him in some way.

And they walked hand in hand up to the door of the shop. And they turned to face one another, and Aziraphale took Crowley’s other hand in his. And they stood there, smiling madly at one another.

“Anthony Crowley,” Aziraphale said, quietly and purposefully. “Thank you very much for teaching me about snakes. And tortoises, and fish, and butterflies, also, I suppose.”

“Aziraphale Fell,” and Crowley was just as earnest in response. “Thank you very much for being willing to learn.”

And that might have been all, for now, because Aziraphale turned to place one of his hands on the bookshop door, but then Crowley was spinning him into his arms, and kissing him with an urgency that had been quite absent in the Butterfly House. And Aziraphale kissed him back, just as fervently, at last allowing himself the great pleasure of bringing his fingers up to tangle in Crowley’s crimson hair. 

“Sorry,” Crowley pulled away nearly as abruptly as he’d begun. “Just… It’s hard to want to stop kissing you, angel.”

“I forgive you,” and Aziraphale kissed him again to prove it.

“Hey,” Crowley’s eyes suddenly lit up. “I want to see you before this, but… we’re having this thing at the Zoo in a few weeks. It’s a sort of Gala? Get all dressed up and drink free booze and raise money for the animals. Wanna go?”

Aziraphale felt a ridiculous blush creeping over his cheeks at the idea of whatever Anthony Crowley “dressed up” might look like.

“I certainly agree that I would like to see you again before a few weeks is up, but, yes. Yes, I would like to get all dressed up and drink free booze and raise money for the animals with you.”

Because Aziraphale did. 

“Great,” Crowley said, because it was.

And they stood there for a few more moments, holding hands and being more than a little dumbstruck by one another.

“Alright, my dear,” Aziraphale finally said. “I’ll see you soon?”

“You will.”

Sometimes the bravest thing is closing the door for now, and trusting that the good thing will still be there when you wake back up. 

“Wonderful,” Aziraphale pulled Crowley back to him for one last, lingering kiss.

And then he tipped his head, fondly and stupidly adorably, and went inside the shop.

And Crowley took a moment to lean against the closed door, grinning huge and fierce.

He couldn’t wait to tell Kaa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are all doing so well! Again: I know these are scary, worrisome times, and it just means so much to me to sit down and write about some sweetness between these two. Thank you so much for reading! I really can't express what it means to me.
> 
> Also: Wow, I have some RESEARCH to do for this next chapter! It's time for me to be brave like Aziraphale...


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aziraphale attempts to pay it forward a little, and we make another new friend.

Here’s what you’ve missed:

It had been a few weeks, and, as decided, Aziraphale and Crowley had started to see rather a lot of each other. Aziraphale had been delighted to introduce Crowley to non-zoological activities, and so they had enjoyed theatres and museums and art galleries in one another’s company. They had gone out to plenty of nice dinners, and, indeed, Aziraphale had been thrilled to be the one to explain things and to offer suggestions for once.

Sometimes (okay, many times) they simply ended up back at Aziraphale’s bookshop, talking and laughing and learning about one another and drinking well into the night.

There was an awful lot of kissing. 

And, of course, Aziraphale still spent a lot of time visiting Crowley at the London Zoo.

He was rather sentimental, you know. 

The afternoon before the Zoo’s Gala, Aziraphale stepped inside the Reptile House, the cool dimness of the place now a welcome sensation to him. Unfortunately, there was little peace to be had in the House this particular day.

Blasted field trips.

Despite their chaperone’s best intentions, the group of children currently in the Reptile House were running back and forth all over the space, bouncing from habitat to habitat, sometimes poking excitedly at the windows. Aziraphale imagined Crowley’s rage, and decided that he was going to say something when:

“Look! Emerson’s _afraid!_ ”

Oh, and Aziraphale recognized the palpable fear coming off of the child in question right away. They were standing, as he once had just a few weeks ago, in the dead center of the aisle, face determinedly focused on the floor, fists clenched by their sides, anything to protect themself… 

“Emerson’s a chicken!” yelled one of the other children again, and what followed was a cacophany of terrible chicken impressions. 

Wishing fervently that they all might be troubled with an unexpected spelling quiz when they returned to school, Aziraphale approached the frightened child. 

“Hello,” Aziraphale didn’t really know how to begin.

Emerson looked up at Aziraphale, and Aziraphale’s heart nearly broke over the terror in Emerson’s eyes. 

“Hello?”

“Emerson, is it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hello, Emerson,” Aziraphale was not remotely certain whether or not he was doing this correctly, but on we go! “Emerson, I’m very afraid of snakes myself. That’s why I started coming here. To try to get over my fears.”

Emerson just nodded, now having to deal with both the presence of serpents as well as of a strange man in a waistcoat talking to him.

“My point is,” Aziraphale went on. “That you don’t need to confront these fears until you’re ready for you. Not because of what anyone else says.”

“When will I know?” Emerson finally asked, voice wobbling a little. 

“If you’re anything like me,” Aziraphale answered, carefully. “One day, your curiousity will overcome your fear. I’ve learned so much about what wonderful creatures snakes are. The more I learn, the less afraid I am.”

A realization suddenly struck Aziraphale.

“Emerson,” Aziraphale said. “If you think you’d be ready, there’s one creature in here I really think you ought to meet. She’s green and very pretty, and she lives up in a corner in her tree. Her name is Em, almost like yours.”

(I don’t know if you were a child like I was a child, but this strategy would have absolutely worked on me. It’s fun to share names.)

Emerson frowned, uncertain but curious. Aziraphale looked over in the direction of Em’s habitat.

“She’s just over there,” Aziraphale pointed her out. “If you go straight there and keep your face forward, you won’t have to see anything else. This time.”

Emerson nodded, and started off in the direction of Em’s house. It helps to be on a quest, which Aziraphale knew quite well. 

Aziraphale watched Emerson walk away, feeling very proud of the child as well as himself, when:

“Trying to murder me here, angel?”

Aziraphale jumped a little, but his surprise quickly melted into delight.

“Crowley!”

And Aziraphale turned around to find, sure enough, his tall, handsome zookeeper grinning at him. 

“You’re awfully good at slinking around,” Aziraphale went on, fondly. “Did you learn that from the snakes, or was it the other way around?”

“Taught them everything they know,” Crowley smirked. “And speaking of teaching, what a right, little teacher you’ve turned out to be.”

Crowley jerked his head towards the front doors of the Reptile House, where the field trip children were finally retreating. Aziraphale felt a blush coming over his face. He hadn’t realized that Crowley had seen him with Emerson.

“Yes, well,” Aziraphale swallowed a little, flustered. “Like the snakes, I learned from the best, didn’t I?”

“You were wonderful,” Crowley said, softly. And then he turned his head quickly from left to right to make sure that no one else was around (he was a professional, after all), and, when all was indeed quiet, he leaned forward to kiss Aziraphale’s cheek.

“Looking forward to the Gala,” he murmured as he pulled away. “I’ll be able to kiss you in here all I like.”

Aziraphale did his best not to actively shiver at the thought. 

“But for now,” An excited grin returned to Crowley’s face. He extended a hand to Aziraphale, who took it immediately. “Aziraphale Fell. Are you ready for another lesson?”

And Aziraphale was. 

Well, Aziraphale thought he was. Because, after a moment, he realized that Crowley was leading him in the direction of the BIG WINDOW, and he stopped in his tracks. Crowley did not let go of his hand. He turned back to where Aziraphale had frozen, and softly stroked the back of Aziraphale’s hand with his thumb. And then, because he had important goals today and wasn’t necessarily interested in playing entirely fair, he used his other hand to remove his glasses and tuck them into his shirt pocket.

“Her name is Rosie,” Crowley looked into Aziraphale’s eyes, trying to pour every bit of courage he had into Aziraphale. “She’s awfully big, I’m not going to lie to you. But, if it makes you feel better, that means her digestive system takes a lot longer than ours do. So, she doesn’t need to eat very much. So, she isn’t going to eat you, angel. I promise.”

Aziraphale wanted to laugh at that, but he felt too ashamed. He thought he’d come so far, but now here he was again, frozen in fear in the center of the Reptile House.

“I know she won’t,” Aziraphale admitted, because he did know that, didn’t he? He understood it at least, which, to be fair, is different than knowing.

“I can’t explain it,” Aziraphale continued, miserable. “It’s just something I feel down in my bones. I know it’s rubbish, but it just seems to me that, if she really wanted… well, she could do anything to me. That she could hurt me if she wanted.”

“Because she’s a monster?” asked Crowley, eyes never leaving Aziraphale, eyes faintly blazing there in the darkness of the Reptile House.

Aziraphale paused before going on. He looked deeply into Crowley’s eyes. Into Crowley’s beautiful, strange, yellow eyes that had been a source of such pain to him for so much of his life. Aziraphale considered his own privelege in that, for all the things that people had called him over the course of his lifetime, sometimes not very nice things at all, mind you… No one had ever called him a monster.

Who was he to decide what a monster was?

“No,” Aziraphale said, voice sounding more confident than he felt. “I did think that once, and I’m sorry for it.”

“She’s a rescue, you know,” Crowley took a deep breath, clearly swallowing down some kind of great emotion. “Our Rosie.”

“What was she rescued from?” Aziraphale wondered out loud.

“Exotic animal smugglers,” Crowley finally tore his gaze away from Aziraphale’s. “She was found at the airport. All smushed up inside what was practically a bloody Tupperware container. Like she was leftover pasta or something.”

And something deep and beautiful roared inside Aziraphale’s chest as he realized that there were tears glinting in the corners of Crowley’s eyes. As Aziraphale really considered the depth and capacity of Anthony Crowley’s love. 

It was magnificent.

“I would like to meet her,” Aziraphale said, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t afraid anymore. He was still very, very afraid, thank you very much.

But he was also in love with Anthony Crowley, and that feeling was quite a bit stronger.

Crowley squeezed Aziraphale’s hand, and continued leading him up to the… _breathe_ … big window. Aziraphale braced himself. He half-expected to find Rosie slithering wildly back and forth right across the front of the window, gnashing her fangs, hungry for his blood, a deer or something digesting in her huge stomach right in front of him…

But, no. In fact, it took Aziraphale a moment to spot her. She _was_ big. (He shuddered, he couldn’t help it.) But she wasn’t slithering or gnashing or really doing anything. She was coiled up in a little pool of water in the far left corner of her habitat, just resting.

Just being.

“Rosie is an anaconda, Aziraphale,” Crowley sat down on the ground next to Rosie, drawing his knees up against his chest, looking adoringly at the great snake. “She’s the largest snake species in the world.”

Aziraphale sat down next to Crowley. 

(Are you scared? I am, too, I confess. But I want to offer you my favorite sentence from my favorite zoo sign: _Reptiles and amphibians have intrinsic value. They’re valuable because they’re here._ And so are you, friend.) 

They sat and looked at Rosie for a long time. She didn’t do much, really, just rested in her little pool. If you were an idiot, and I know you are not, you might have been disappointed at how still she was. But here’s the thing: Rosie doesn’t owe any of us a damn thing. No animal does. They’re not here to entertain us. They’re just here. And maybe you don’t owe anyone anything either. You’re just here, too, and that’s enough, I promise. 

And sometimes Crowley offered a remarkable fact about Rosie the anaconda, and Aziraphale nodded, fascinated and still a little frightened. But mostly they just sat there, and they co-existed with her. 

Finally, Crowley clapped his hands against his thighs, and moved to stand up. He offered a hand to Aziraphale and helped him to his feet as well.

“Time for me to make my afternoon rounds, angel,” Crowley said, and, if his voice was a little thicker than usual, if this had meant more to him than he’d anticipated, well, there you are. “How are you feeling?”

“Still a bit scared,” Aziraphale confessed. “But not as much. It helps to see her, to know about her.”

Crowley smiled at that. “Well, then, I think you might have officially graduated from the Anthony Crowley Junior Herpetologist Program.”

And Crowley stuck his hand in his shorts pocket and fished around for a minute before removing a sheet of stickers. He peeled one off- a happy, green, cartoon snake saying “Thanksss a lot”- and placed it gently on Aziraphale’s chest. 

“Wear it with pride, Junior Herpetologist.”

“I promise,” Aziraphale nodded. 

(You need to understand, they each took this very seriously.)

This time Crowley didn’t look from side to side before leaning forward to kiss Aziraphale’s cheek. 

“So proud of you,” he whispered.

Aziraphale closed his eyes, a bit dizzied at this. “Thank you.”

“See you tomorrow night?”

“Of course. I believe I was promised quite a bit of kissing?”

At that, Crowley winked once, returned his glasses to his face, and turned around to wander, amble, saunter away. Aziraphale brought his fingers up to touch the snake sticker on his waistcoat.

It was turning out to really be something, this business of being brave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, my friends! I'm personally still too afraid to look at the anaconda at my own zoo, but I think the first thing I'm going to do when the world opens up again, is go visit and be brave like Aziraphale. 
> 
> I hope you're doing okay! I believe in you!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aziraphale and Crowley attend a rather fancy Zoo party, and some things are said.

Please understand: Aziraphale Fell wore very nice trousers, a bowtie, and a bloody waistcoat practically every day of his life. He was nothing if not a proper, distinguished gentleman, in manner and in dress. 

So, why was he so awfully nervous about the prospect of “dressing up” in front of Anthony Crowley?

It was the night of the big London Zoo Gala, and Aziraphale was pacing in front of the bookshop door, waiting for Crowley to pick him up and doubting every article of clothing that had ever touched his body.

Especially what touched his body tonight.

You see.

_(Breathe, my dears.)_

Aziraphale had tried something a little different.

Tonight he wore a light blue, three piece suit that, if possible, made his hair even brighter and glowier than usual. On his lapel was his carefully preserved Junior Herpetologist sticker that Crowley had gifted him the day before. 

There was a knock at the door. Aziraphale fussed with his hair for the millionth time, and opened the door.

Alright, look. Anthony Crowley was a beautiful creature. Anthony Crowley made his green Zoo polo and khaki shorts ensemble look good. 

So, though it really shouldn’t have come as any particular shock, the sight of Anthony Crowley standing at Aziraphale Fell’s door, wearing an all-black suit, a silver neck tie the only spot of another shade on him…

Well, it was a lot, you see?

“Hello,” Crowley said, and he must have been feeling something strongly himself over the sight of Aziraphale, because his voice was soft and awed. “You look… I don’t have a word for it, angel.”

“And you,” Aziraphale dared to bring his hand up to touch the sleek fabric covering Crowley’s chest. 

“Ready to go to a fancy Zoo party?”

Aziraphale was.

***

The ZSL London Zoo is always a beautiful place. But tonight?

Well, it had really outdone itself. I don’t immediately recall whether or not there are any fairy tales that take place in Zoos, but this Gala would have outshone them all. 

Aziraphale and Crowley took it all in, smiled at one another, and headed immediately for the bar.

For a while, they really were on their very best behavior. They ordered drinks, and made polite conversation with Crowley’s co-workers. They applauded at the live band, and, after a second (okay, third) drink, they even found their way out onto the dance floor. This is an arena in which neither of them especially excelled, as you well know, but did it matter?

They were happy. 

They were together, and they were happy.

Around Drink #4, Crowley took Aziraphale’s hand, and led him away from the crowd.

He’d made a promise, after all.

They strolled over to Penguin Beach, and they kissed passionately in front of the penguins. They made their way to the Land of the Lions, and, this time, they kissed rather languidly before the lions. It was rather dark in the Rainforest Life nocturnal exhibit, but oh, it hardly mattered, because Aziraphale kissed Crowley so very lightly all over his beautiful face. 

Eventually, they found their way into the Reptile House. They held hands as they walked through the doors, and laughed about their earliest meetings. 

“You were adorable,” Crowley insisted of their very first interaction. “You were so _determined._ ”

“I didn’t know which to be more nervous about, honestly,” Aziraphale admitted. “The snakes or the terribly handsome zookeeper.”

This admission earned him a particularly deep kiss.

For a good while, they had the House all to themselves. They checked in on Kaa, and Em, and Pop, and Rosie, and all the other scaly friends that Aziraphale had made since meeting Crowley. He felt so honored and privileged now to know these incredible creatures by name.

Honored and privileged most of all to know this incredible creature in the dark suit, standing beside him and holding his hand.

Aziraphale steeled himself for another bout of bravery.

“Crowley, I-”

The doors to the Reptile House open, and the House was suddenly filled with the easy, happy, drunken chatter of other Gala guests. Just as Aziraphale was pocketing his confession for a better and later opportunity, he found himself being rather forcefully dragged into a dark corner of the Reptile House. Crowley pulled Aziraphale close against his chest, and practically flung himself against the wall. 

“Darling, what are you-”

“Ssh,” Crowley whispered, dramatically, holding a finger up to Aziraphale’s lips. “Aziraphale. Don’t you remember that I sometimes work undercover? Nod if you understand.”

Good Lord, he was drunk. And ridiculous.

Aziraphale adored him. 

So, Aziraphale nodded.

“Good,” Crowley kept his voice low. “We can’t be spotted in here, or the mission is a failure, do you understand?”

Aziraphale nodded again.

“So, you have to be very quiet while we’re here in this corner, do you understand?”

Aziraphale nodded.

“Well done, agent,” Crowley breathed, and then his lips were on Aziraphale’s neck.

Aziraphale gasped at the sudden contact, which had Crowley pulling away just as suddenly. He held his finger up to his lips again, golden eyes insistent and urgent.

Now Aziraphale understood.

He turned in Crowley’s arms, so that his back was against Crowley’s chest, giving Crowley better access to his throat. Crowley’s hands came to grip Aziraphale’s hips, keeping him tight against him and out of sight from the other visitors to the Reptile House.

(It was a very important mission, you must understand.)

Crowley kissed slowly over Aziraphale’s neck. Aziraphale fought the moan, whine, whatever you wish to call it that was building in his throat. But he would never dream of letting Crowley down, so he breathed silently out of his mouth, and did his best to remain upright and on his feet. 

Sometimes Crowley was soft and light, and sometimes he ran his tongue over Aziraphale’s pulse point, and sometimes he grazed his teeth ever so slightly over Aziraphale’s throat, and all the times Aziraphale considered that he’d never thought of the ZSL London Zoo Reptile House as especially… well, _exciting,_ but he supposed that it wasn’t the first thing that Crowley had taught him there. 

After a while, the sounds of the other guests faded back in the direction of the front doors, and then there was the sound itself of the door closing. Aziraphale still didn’t dare make a noise. Didn’t dare move a muscle. Didn’t dare leave this moment behind. One of Crowley’s arms was now wrapped around Aziraphale’s waist, and his other hand had made its way into his hair, and Aziraphale felt so very admired and cared for and desired and…

And, at this realization, Aziraphale did gasp out loud.

“Well done, agent,” Crowley whispered low in Aziraphale’s ear.

“Permission to speak, captain?” To be fair, Aziraphale wasn’t entirely certain of Crowley’s rank in this particular scenario, but there you have it.

“Permission granted.”

And there, in a dark corner of the Reptile House of the ZSL London Zoo, Aziraphale Fell turned once more in Anthony Crowley’s arms. Turned so that he might meet his delighted, clever yellow eyes with his own adorable, determined blue ones. Turned so that he might place a soft kiss on his lips. Turned so that he might say, with all the power of his knowing, beating heart:

“I love you, Crowley.”

And, to his credit, Crowley did not hesitate a bit when he said:

“I love you, too, Aziraphale.”

And they closed what little distance there was left between them, and they practically crushed one another in a glorious hug. In fact, let it be known that, at one point, Aziraphale was so caught up in the hug that he forgot his own deceptive strength, and, quite literally, swept Crowley off of his feet. And maybe they both teared up a little, soft bastards that they are, but, really, can any of us blame them? 

They had found each other, at last. And I’m not sure that they even knew they were looking for one another, to tell you the truth. I think it’s probably different for each of us, my friends. I don’t know what you will find out there, what I will find out there, but I think I know this for sure:

It’s sure worth looking. 

Aziraphale and Crowley, hand in hand, walked out together through the doors of the Reptile House, and back into the cool, starry evening air. 

It had been a marvelous Gala, but they were rather ready to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, dear ones! I wasn't going to work on this chapter for a few days, but these days lately can be so long and sad and scary. It means a lot to me to be able to come play inside this happy story for a little bit. 
> 
> I hope you're doing okay out there!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude, if you will. In which the Zoo is closed down, and Aziraphale and Crowley keep on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey pals. If you're a little fatigued from all the sadness, it might be worth it to skip this little chapter. I wasn't planning to write it at all, but it has been such a sad and frustrating day, and I needed to write something that gave me hope. I hope it gives you some hope, too. 
> 
> We're going to be okay.

(I know that you came here for a break from this, but please understand that I need to tell the whole story:)

The next day the ZSL London Zoo closed to the public. 

Crowley found out at the daily morning meeting. He’d slunk in a few minutes late, maybe just a tad hungover and decidedly mourning the lack of a warm, cozy Aziraphale in his arms, when he heard someone important say:

“Until further notice…”

Crowley shut his eyes tight, and remembered the vision that had been Aziraphale, so beautiful in his blue suit, laughing and dancing with him beneath the fairy lights of the Gala. Aziraphale kissing him in the corner of the Reptile House.

Aziraphale who loved him. 

_Aziraphale who will still me through this,_ Crowley thought to himself, borrowing some of Aziraphale’s determination. 

(Be brave.)

What else is there to say? I think this is the part we all already know:

They each carried on as best they could. The bookshop closed its doors to the public as well, and Aziraphale spent much of his time reading. He had a stack of new books that it might have been the perfect time for getting around to, but that’s not where his heart was. He returned instead to old favorites, stories that filled him with hope and courage. He was already a very anxious person, so the situation was especially hard on him. He worried about every single implication of it, but especially about beautiful Crowley, who still had very important work to do.

Because Crowley was also a fairly anxious person, but he would never give up on behalf of his animals. He showed up every day, and he made sure that Em and Kaa and Pop and Rosie and all the rest of our friends were properly fed and loved. He consented to being filmed for some videos for the Zoo’s YouTube channel, teaching from afar about the creatures he adored.

He even did them without his glasses on. And he did his best to speak deeply into the hearts of every scared, sad person who might be watching, who needed to know that, whatever else happened, the animals would not be abandoned… 

But he mostly spoke to Aziraphale. 

Aziraphale watched them all, each and every one, and was always the first to leave a nice comment.

And they did whatever they could to see one another every day. It was unsafe to go to one another in person, but they still ate dinner together and watched movies together (and even plays and operas together) and stayed up late into the evening with too many bottles of wine together. Crowley patiently explained each new bit of technology that they needed to Aziraphale, and Aziraphale returned these kindnesses by reading poetry over the phone to Crowley each night as he had gone to bed. Aziraphale was too nervous to sleep himself, so, even after he was certain Crowley had fallen asleep, he just kept on reading.

They kept on. 

(As will we.)

They kept on. 

Because they were in love, and nothing was going to stop them. .

_ Some time later. (Oh, how I wish I could tell you when.) _

The sun was shining. I mean, it just has to be, right? 

Crowley, as has been well-established, typically wandered, ambled, sauntered through his life. But when he parked his Bentley in front of Aziraphale’s bookshop for the first time since the world had come back to life, he _scrambled_ as fast as his lanky limbs could take him, rushing to that beautiful front door.

Aziraphale, who had been nervously, frantically pacing just inside the door all morning, flung the door open as hard as he could, and met Crowley before he ever reached it.

Aziraphale, as has also been established, was quite a bit stronger than he usually let on, and the ferocity of his embrace sent the pair of them toppling to the pavement. But Crowley just laughed, and, okay, cried a little (okay, a lot), and took Aziraphale’s face in his, and kissed him every kiss that he’d been longing to kiss since this whole catastrophe started.

They were on the ground for quite a while. 

I like to believe that this will be the sort of day wherein no one walking past minds this sort of thing.

Eventually, they stood up, and they walked arm in arm, because hand in hand was not enough today, all the way to the Ritz. And they exclaimed in delight to see their favorite workers and patrons at the establishment, there and smiling and well. And Aziraphale, soft thing, cried to hear the sounds of a piano in person once again, and Crowley squeezed his hand and did not dare to wipe the tears away, because they were so beautiful. They ordered every single thing they wanted, which is something that I hope fondly for all of us to get to do again. 

The sun shone, and the world was not over, and is it too earnest of me to suggest what the nightingale probably sang? (We’ve come too far together to be subtle now, I think.)

Champagne was poured, as it must be. And Aziraphale and Crowley gazed at one another, as lovingly and longingly as two beings had ever gazed at one another on a sunny afternoon at the Ritz. Before reaching for his glass, Crowley took Aziraphale’s hand in his, and lifted it to his lips, unwilling to allow him to sit unkissed for another single second. 

Anthony Crowley was never going to let a day go by without kissing Aziraphale Fell ever again, he decided in that moment.

Aziraphale Fell, it should be noted, was on quite the same page. 

They raised their glasses in a toast. 

There are no silver linings to this, I don’t think, only the lessons we will learn and what we choose to do with them. Nothing was going to stop them, and nothing is going to stop us either. 

There’s bravery yet to do, friends.

_To the world._


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aziraphale has a surprise for Crowley.

_A few months later._

To conclude (very nearly): Henry David Thoreau “went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”

Well, Anthony Crowley liked the woods alright, thanks very much, and he hadn’t considered Henry David Thoreau too deeply before becoming the partner of Aziraphale Fell, and, now that you mention it, he did wish to live deliberately and deep, which is perhaps one of many reasons that he found himself pulling up to the curb outside of Aziraphale’s bookshop in the first place.

They hadn’t had plans to see one another today, you see, but Aziraphale had called to let Crowley know that he had a surprise for him, and if you think that Anthony Crowley was going to let even a day go by with that mystery just hanging there, well, do you have another thing coming. 

“Angel!” Crowley called out as he stepped into the shop. “What’s all this about a ‘surprise?’”

And then Aziraphale appeared, and Crowley promptly forgot about whatever the surprise might be. 

Are you sitting down?

Because Aziraphale appeared, no overcoat nor bowtie to speak of. No, there he stood, entirely too innocently, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. (“ _The right bastard,_ ” Crowley thought to himself.) There he stood, _shirt sleeves rolled up,_ and actual _sweat_ glistening on his brow.

It was rather scandalous. 

“Crowley!” Aziraphale exclaimed, delightedly, just a touch out of breath. “How lovely to see you!”

Crowley mumbled a rather incoherent reply, and Aziraphale smirked.

“Didn’t quite catch that, darling.”

In a continued absence of anything particularly eloquent to say, Crowley instead stepped forward, took the sweaty Aziraphale into his arms, and proceeded to kiss him quite thoroughly.

“Your surprise isn’t quite ready, my dear,” Aziraphale pouted a little when they finally pulled apart. 

“ _This isn’t the surprise?!_ ”

“Really, Crowley,” Azraphale smiled at him, so blastedly fondly. “If I’d known rolled up sleeves were enough to ilicit this reaction, I’d have done it much sooner. What should I try next- a t-shirt?”

Before Crowley could really attempt to process that mental image, Aziraphale shuddered in his arms.

“Never mind. Absolutely not. I take it back.”

Crowley kissed him again.

“Would you like to see her?” Aziraphale asked, a little shyness suddenly coloring his tone.

Crowley raised an eyebrow. “‘Her?’”

And Aziraphale held up one finger, a little theatrically, it should be noted, and turned away from Crowley to dart back deeper into the shop. Crowley smiled to himself. He loved a lot of things (well, all the things) about Aziraphale, but his enthusiasm and excitement were perhaps Crowley’s favorites.

“Close your eyes!” came Aziraphale’s voice.

Anthony Crowley, deeply in love, did. He listened as Aziraphale’s shoes clicked back in his direction, thought he heard Aziraphale whisper “Ssh, darling,” but who could he be talking to?

“Hold out your hands,” was the next instruction.

Anthony Crowley, deeply in love, did. Softly, gently, a very familiar and yet very unfamiliar weight settled into his palms. 

The feeling that came over Anthony Crowley’s entire being as he recognized what he was holding, there in his hands, inside Aziraphale Fell’s bookshop, was entirely too enormous to put into words.

“Open your eyes, love.”

Anthony Crowley, perhaps even more deeply in love than he had been five minutes ago, did.

Sure enough, in his hands, beginning to make its way around his forearm was a young, beautiful black snake. 

“Aziraphale,” Crowley couldn’t believe it. “What did you do?”

“Well, it can get awfully lonely here sometimes,” Aziraphale admitted, clasping his hands together in front of him. “So, I thought it might be nice to have some company around here. I was putting her little house together when you arrived.”

He went on:

“Her name is Lady Hiss. I’ve adopted her, Crowley.”

“Lady Hiss, eh? Quite the name.”

“I learned serpent-naming from the best, you know.”

Crowley ran a finger softly down Lady Hiss’ long spine, a little afraid to look up and meet Aziraphale’s gaze. It was making him awfully soft, all this bravery business.

“She’s lovely,” Crowley said, because she was. 

“I was hoping we could take care of her together,” Aziraphale said, softly, a little flustered. “I still have a lot to learn, after all. Which might require… well, what I’m trying to say is… as I’ve said, it can be rather lonely… my dear, would you ever consider-?”

“Yes,” Crowley answered, perhaps a bit too overwhelmed to hear The Question out loud. “Yes, of course.”

Aziraphale reached forward and gently took Lady Hiss back from Crowley, draping the black snake around his own shoulders as he had seen Crowley do so many times before. His hands now free, Aziraphale reached out to take Crowley’s, and pulled the quite-overcome zookeeper in for a kiss.

It was really quite the family portrait. 

And so it came to be that Henry David Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately, and to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.

From that day forward, Anthony Crowley went every day to Aziraphale Fell’s bookshop because he felt quite the same.

And, you know, because he lived there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this little, tiny chapter! I know I keep changing the chapter count, but I really do think that we're going to wrap things up in this next chapter. It's been such a joy to tell this sweet story, and it means the world to me that you're reading it!
> 
> I'm [wiserandwaywarder](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/wiserandwaywarder) over on Tumblr!
> 
> (Also: I'm sorry, but I CANNOT RESIST the trope of Crowley being weak for Aziraphale with his sleeves rolled up. I can't, and I won't!!)


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see some domestic fluff, and Aziraphale makes perhaps his bravest move yet.

_Sometime later. (I’m not positive when, exactly, as it really isn’t any of my business.)_

Aziraphale Fell woke up as did every morning those days: With a sleeping Anthony Crowley wrapped tightly around him. 

Aziraphale smiled and murmured against Crowley’s hair, “Good morning, darling.”

“Ngk,” was the reply that followed.

“Haven’t you got work today?”

“Sleep is work, angel.”

“Yes, and you’re very good at it, I see. Top of your field, I expect.”

“Shut up.”

But there was no venom in it. In fact, Crowley rolled over, and kissed Aziraphale softly.

“Good morning.”

“Go to work.”

Crowley groaned, and flung his long legs over the side of the bed. Their bed. 

Aziraphale watched Crowley get ready. Watched him pull on the zoo uniform in which he’d first fallen in love with him. Watched him pull back his hair away from his face, which he’d let get long rather recently. Watched him fix his name badge to his chest. 

_Anthony._

He still took Aziraphale’s breath away.

Aziraphale wrapped himself up in his robe, and followed Crowley down the stairs. Continued to watch him, impossibly fondly, as Crowley checked in on Lady Hiss.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Crowley said to the black snake, currently coiled up securely beneath a little log in her habitat. He called over his shoulder to Aziraphale, “Angel, will you thaw out her dinner this afternoon? I’ll feed her when I get home-”

But then Crowley yelped out loud, because he hadn’t noticed that Aziraphale had snuck up right behind him, and was now squeezing him as tightly as possible around his middle.

“What’s gotten into you, then?”

Muffled, against Crowley’s back: “I love you.”

“I love you, too, you odd, odd bird.”

But then Crowley was turning around in his embrace, and smiling at Aziraphale, and they were standing inside the bookshop where they lived together, they were standing right in front of the sweet snake they took care of _together,_ and Aziraphale had planned everything out so carefully, there were supposed to be flowers and champagne and all of it, but looking upon Anthony Crowley made Aziraphale Fell feel so terribly brave, so:

“Will you marry me?” he blurted out.

Crowley sucked in a breath, and staggered back a little, never letting go of Aziraphale. 

“I meant to do this proper,” Aziraphale confessed, already fretting that he’d ruined it entirely. “But I love you, and I love our life together, and I simply couldn’t stand not asking you a moment longer.”

Crowley, apparently still at a loss for words, clapped Aziraphale on the shoulders before holding up a single finger, and then dashing back up the stairs, nearly breaking his neck in the process. Aziraphale opened his mouth to try to stop him, but then clicked it shut again in confusion. 

“Crowley? Dear? Did you just hear me propose marriage to you?”

“Just hold on!”

Just as terrifyingly as he’d dashed up them, Crowley crashed down the stairs, practically panting. And then Crowley stood in front of Aziraphale, clad in his zoo uniform, chest heaving. In front of Aziraphale who likewise stood there, clad in a tartan bathrobe, hair even more untidy than usual from sleep.

They were quite the sight.

“I also meant to do this proper,” Crowley breathed. “You perfect, impatient thing.”

Crowley unclasped his fingers to reveal a small, velvet box sitting in the center of his palm. I know this won’t surprise you, but Aziraphale actually gasped out loud. 

“Well, now I need to go get yours!” And Aziraphale made to run up the stairs himself, but Crowley stopped him, wrapping a hand gently around his elbow.

“I still have to go to work, remember?” he laughed. “Give it to me tonight?”

“Oh,” Aziraphale flushed a little, feeling silly and happy. “Yes. Yes, of course.”

They stood there for another minute in idiotic, lovestruck silence before they both spoke at the same time:

“Is that a ‘yes?’”

“So, what do you say, angel?”

“Yes!” They both shouted at the same time, and Crowley’s poor ring box nearly didn’t make it out of the magnificent embrace that followed, all limbs flinging around one another and lips crashing into lips. 

If Lady Hiss could have, she might have rolled her eyes at her daffy caretakers. 

“Alright, work,” Crowley forced himself apart from Aziraphale. “But tonight. Celebration. Raucous, wild, obscene even.”

“Hardly,” Aziraphale smoothed his hands over Crowley’s hair, straightening it where their touching had mussed it.

Crowley swooped down to kiss him.

“Let me try again. Tonight. Celebration. Tasteful. Elegant.”

“Much better,” Aziraphale said, agreeably.

Crowley squeezed Aziraphale’s hand before bringing it up to his lips to kiss it. Oh, it was going to be a torturously long day at work.

“Come with me today,” Crowley suggested, suddenly. “Close up here, bring a book, and you can sit and read to Polly all day. She’d love it.”

Aziraphale smiled at the thought, but: “Oh my dear, I would love it, but I don’t want to leave the Lady all by herself.”

“You’re right,” Crowley turned to look back at the snake, now slowly slithering her way up the front of her window. “Alright, then. Another day. I want to show off my handsome husband-to-be to my workmates.”

“Kaa and Em already know what I look like, darling,” Aziraphale responded, playfully.

Crowley kissed him again, and started toward the door.

“Oh, you’re going to look so terribly handsome in a tuxedo.” Aziraphale sighed as he followed him to the door. He could already picture it. 

“Tuxedo nothing” Crowley grinned. “No, I’m showing up completely naked with Rosie wrapped around my shoulders, and-”

Aziraphale shuddered at the image.

Crowley raised an eyebrow in challenge. “What’s the matter, angel? Scared?”

“A little,” Aziraphale admitted, looping an arm through Crowley’s. Crowley kissed him on the top of his fluffy head. 

_Epilogue._

I don’t really know what else to tell you, friends. The rest of this goes as other stories go: they were in love, and sometimes it was easy and sometimes it was hard, but they each decided every day that it was always worth fighting for. I really only have it in me to tell you all the sweet bits right now. I hope you will forgive me. 

This was always a story about bravery. What is it that scares you? Why? You don’t have to be ready, not for a long time, but I offer… Be curious about it. Pick up the book on it, or type it into the search engine, or go find an expert. Like Aziraphale, I was scared of snakes, but out of that I have written this story. 

When this all blows over, I look forward to meeting up with you in the reptile house. I’m still scared, but I have a lot of questions.

Thank you for being here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, friends! This has been such a joy of a story to tell. Thank you for asking for more of it, for telling me all about your own reptile friends, and for generally being supportive and delightful. 
> 
> We're done for now, but who knows? I certainly have a lot of time in my hands, and now there's a wedding to write!
> 
> I hope you're doing okay. Thank you for being here.

**Author's Note:**

> A very last minute submission to the Great Good Omens Snake-Off! My heart weirdly needed this, so thank you for reading!
> 
> Update: Okay, I'm definitely going to write more of this.


End file.
